Poll of the Week

RESULTS: Do You Support Fort Collins Ballot Issue 2A?

Ballots for the 2013 general election will be mailed out on Tuesday, October 15. Included in the ballots is Fort Collins Initiative 2A, which asks citizens if they support an ordinance placing a moratorium on hydraulic fracturing and the storage of its waste products within the City of Fort Collins or on lands under its jurisdiction (such as open spaces) for a period of five years.

Fort Collins Alliance for Reliable Energy (FARE) is one of the leading opponents of Inititative 2A. On their website, focoalliance.com, they claim the proposed ban "is based upon overstated and misrepresented 'truths' about the hydraulic fracturing (fracking) process, geared to mislead and alarm members of our community."

Healthy FoCo, proponents on the ban state "modern fracking practices use heavy industrial technologies that are unproven, potentially hazardous, and threaten Fort Collins' healthy, active image and way of life," on their website, healthyfoco.com.

At their October 1 meeting, Fort Collins City Council formally opposed the ballot initiative on a 4-3 vote. Those in opposition said their opposition to the resolution wasn’t based so much on the controversial issue of fracking, but on whether the council should take any position on a citizen-initiated ballot issue. Mayor pro-tem Gary Horak said that if measure passes, the city is likely to get sued by the state, which claims jurisdiction over oil and gas development, or representatives of the oil industry, he said. The city would likely lose the legal battle and be liable for millions of dollars in judements.

What DID You Think?

From October 14-21, we asked on 600kcol.com "If you were to vote on this measure in Fort Collins (or if this measure were to be presented in your municipality), how would YOU vote?" The responses are: